Ornamental lamp bulb or the like and method of making the same



Oct. 19, 1937. c. BlRiDSE-YE ,096,0 4

ORNAMENTAL LAMP BULB OR THE LIKE AND METHOD OF MAKiNG THE SAME 7 Filed Sept. 30. 19:15

Patented Oct. 19, 1937 v v UNITED STATE-S PATENT OFFICE.

2,096,084 4 r v e OBNAMENTAL LAMP OR THE LIKE METHOD OF THE SAME Clarence Birdseye, Gloucester, Mass ,assignon by \mesne assignments, to Birdseye Electric Corporation, Dover, Del., a corporation of Delaware Application September so, 1935, Serial No. 42,777

' 7 Claims.

ing and shaped so as to form a clear figure in j the glass through which the outer surface of the brightqsilver of the coating is exposed to view in contrast to the pearl color of the etched background.

in which the inner surface of the silver coating is'utilized as a reflecting surface, as for example, in a lamp designed for indirect lighting and having its curved end silvered up to its line of maximum diameter. When illuminated the; lower part of such a bulb is darkened by the inside silver coating which'prevents the passage of light rays. It is that portionof the lamp that Ipropose to ornament by forming on-fthe. exterior thereof a pearl-colored etched surfacedefining bands or other figures of artistic'outlinelin" the clear glass of the bulb. The bright outer surface of the silver of theinside coating is thus" exi posed to view in attractive contrast tothe extterior background'surface and ,a desirable appearance imparted to the lamp bulb both wh illuminated and when unilluminatd and this is particularly advantageousv since lamps of. this type usually require no exterior reflecting fixture but are fully exposed to view. inventionds in no sense limited to this or to any particular 40 type of lamp, but includes 'within its scope of. lampshaving an inside silver coating for reflecting light from asource within the lamp. bulb and w an etched exterior surface defininga clear figure exposing to view the outer surface of the silver 5 coatingfully protected within the glass of the bulb In another aspect, my invention consists in a novel process of making omamental lamp bulbs,

characterized by thesteps of applying a metallic silver coating to the inside of the bulb and etching the outer -surface thereo'iiin an area defining an-unetched or clear figure above or opposite step of applying the silver coating before the step of etching the exterior surface of the article.- Any satisfactory process may be employed forcarrying out the coating step by which ,a continuous coating of metallic. silver of substan- 5 tially uniform thickness is formed and permanently bonded to the glass. One such process is disclosed in the copending application of Pincus Deren, Serial No. 42,227, filed September 26, 1935,

.and p rerer to employ the method of that ap- 10 pllcation in putting the present invention into practice. Accordingly it is proposed first chemically to clean the inside of the bulb; then to place therein a limited quantity of a silver-depositing solution and then subject the solution to Q a turbulent agitation while the silver is being Onetype of electric lamp to which my invention has an especially'useful application is thatleast for the time. being.

The step of forming an etched'or frosted ex- 2 terior surface on the bulb may be effected by dipping the bulb in any. suitable etching solution" and a number, ofsclu'tions satisfactory for this Purpose may be purchased in the open market.

In orderto form the desired clear figure or flg- 80 urcs in the etched surface it is proposed'to' attach temporarily to the exterior of the bulb a a mask of the desired configuration and contour.

en- The mask may be'provided in any one of nu- For example, in forming orna- 35 v merous ways. mental'bandsabout the bulb in the etched surface, it is hecessary only to stretch elastic bands aboutv the bulb. Other conventional or artistic designs. may be formed. by temporarily cementing a paper shield .to the 'exterior of the bulb or 40 coating the same with par'aflin' and then working the paraflin coating into an artistic configuf 'v I ration. Having providedthemask inthe'manner' preferred,-the bulb may now be dipped into the etching solution,-wh'ereupon the unprotected 45 portions-of the immersed surface are etched or frostedand thereby acquire the pearl-colored appearance characteristic of this-treatment. In

the etching operation the area :of contact may The limited if desired -by temporarily'attaehing ashield to-the bulb. For example, in bulbs de signed forindirectlighting, it is found desirable to limit the frosted area, similarly as the reflecting area, to the line of maximum diameter of the bulb. may be done by providing the bulb with a circular shield, contacting with the bulb at the desired line, and shielding it from contact with the etching solution above this line.

The characteristics of the method of my inof having the inside silver coating applied thereto, part of the bulb being broken away,

Fig. 2 is a sectional view on an enlarged scale,

of a bulb in process of having superfluous silver removed from its walls,

I Fig. 3 is a view in elevation illustrating a silvered bulb provided with a mask,

Fig. 4 is a similar view showing a bulb provided I with a different form of mask,

Fig. 5 is a view in elevation of the bulb of Fig. 3 in the etching or frosting step, and

Fig. 6 is a view in elevation of a finished bulb.

In Fig. 1 I have illustrated the silver-depositing step as carried out and more fully disclosed in the application of Pincus Deren above identified. As shown in this figure the bulb i is inverted and stoppered by means of a combined stopper and holder I 2 including a compressible elastic section II which isexpanded into tight sealing engagement with the neck of the bulb after the latter has been partially filled with a silver-depositing solution IS. The bulb is placed,

in inverted position and subjected to a movement which has an up ,and down component, a

component in a circular path, and a rotary compqnent about its own axis, as indicated by the arrows in Fig. 1. The result of this movement is to cause the silver-depositing solution to swash or whirl upwardly andacross the upper curved end ofv the bulb II. -This movement is continued during the silver-depositing process with the result that a uniform coating of'metallic silver is deposited upon the upper portion of the bulb, firmly bonded to the glass and free of pin holes or other imperfections. In addition to insuring a coating of uniform thickness, the movement imparted tothe bulb prevents the settling of any precipitate in the solution against the glass of the bulb. This is to be avoided since contact of precipitate prevents a secure bond from forming between thesilver and the glass;

Having deposited a silver coating in the manner above described, its area may now be confined if desired, to a definite configuration within the bulb. This step is suggested in Fig. 2' in which paraflln, so'that the etched configuration is limthe bulb ll, having the inside silvered coating It, as shown. is held in a horizontal position in a holder which includes a clamp'2l for engaging the curved end of the bulb, and a hold-down member 22.- A rotary tool 2|, provided with pivotally mounted scraping members 21 is introduced to the proper point within the bulb l0, and then walls of the bulb up rotatedat high speed, whereupon the members 21 expand centrifugally against the walls of the bulb and in their rotation remove the silvered desired or artistic design.. As shown in Fig; 3 a

- the bulb is immersed to the proper level in the of attractive pearl color.

' defines a clear-figure 38 of the shape determined '.1 have in' mind particularly trade-mark designs be ipped in liquid paraflin and then the-glass.

Patent of the United States 18- material is illustrated as temporarily cemented to the curved and of the bulb, .opposite to the silvered coating II. In Fig. 4 another bulb ll having a silvered coating I8, is shown as provided with a mask comprising two elastic bands 28 which are stretched about the bulb in spaced relation, slightly below its line of maximum diameter.

Having provided the bulb with a mask of the character indicated, the etching or frosting operation is next carried out as suggested in Fig. 5. For this purpose the bulb 1 his first provided with a limiting shield 10 of rubber or' other flexible material which, in this case, is placed about the bulb so as to coincide at its lower edge with the line of -maximum diameter of. the bulb and'the limiting line of the silvered coating l8. Thus equipped and still'provided with the mask 26,

receptacle 32 containing liquid etching solution 34 and is maintained in this position for a sufiicient length of time to permit the solution to act fully upon the exposed portions of the glass. The etched bulb is then withdrawn from the solution and rinsed and the mask 26 removed.

The finished bulb is shown in Fig. 6. Its lower portion up to the line ofmaximum diameter is uniformly coated with a frosted or etched surface This surface however,

by the mask 26,and through this clear figure the bright silver of the coating i8 is exposed to view as an exterior reflecting surface in attractive'contrast to the pearl colored background 36. It will be understood that had the bulb I l of Fig. 4 been :similarly treated, it would appear in finished form with anetched surface ornamented by tw parallel bright bands of silver.- g

, While I have descri b h ornamentation of a .bulbby etched areasi inclosing a clear figure, it is within the. scope of the invention to reverse .the proportion of theuetched and clear areas.

I manner it may be'utilim'ed in applying useful as well as ornamental markings to the bulb. and

and voltage data. In forming such marking-the shield or mask will cover the major portion of the bulb surface, restricting the etched area to the desired marking. For example, the bulb may exposed by forming the desired design in theited to the area in which the parafiin has been removed.

I have specifically referred to silver as a metal suitable for the reflecting coat1n8. but-contemplate that other metals may beemployed within the scope of my invention. .Fbr example nickel I or rhodium may-be employed or chromium may be deposited upon a thin'priming coat of silver thus making a composite metallic coating.

(Having thus described myinvention, what I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters 1-. The process of making lamp bulbs 'or'the like, which consists in applying a metallic coatingto theinside surface of a bulb to present an inwardly directed'refiecting surface, and etching the outer surface of the bulb in 'an area defining an unetched figurethrough which the outer sur- 7 a,ooe,os4

face of said metallic coating is exposedes an exte-.

rior reflecting surface.

2. The process of making lamp bulbs or the like, which consists in applying an inside coating of metallic silver to a bulb to present an inwardly directed reflecting surface, removing the marginal portions of the coating to form a defined reflecting area. and then etching the outer surface of the bulb in an area bounded co'incidently with the reflecting area and circumscribing a clear figure through which the outer surface of said silvered coating is exposed as an exterior reflecting surface.

-'" 3. The process of making lamp bulbs or the like, which consists in applying a coating of metallic silver to the inside of the bulb with its inner surface forming a reflector of definite area, temporarily applying a mask of selected shape to the outer surface of the bulb opposite to a portion of the silvered area, immersing the bulb in etching solution to a depth covering the masked areas, and then removing the mask to expose the outer surface of said reflector in a bright silver figure bounded by an etched area.

4. The process of making lamp bulbs or the like, which consists in applying an inside coatving of metallic silver to the rounded end of a bulb with the inner surface of the coating forming a reflector extending approximately up to the line of maximum diameter of the bulb, temporarily securing a figured mask to the outer surface of the bulb opposite to said inside silver coating, and thendipping the rounded end of the bulb with said mask into an etching solution substantially up to its line of maximum diameter,

thereby forming an etched area through which the outer surface of said reflector is exposed in 'a figured design.

5. A lamp bulb or the like, comprising a hollow glass body having acoating of reflecting metal presenting a continuous inner surface for reflecting light from a source within the bulb, and an etched outer surface configuration adjacent to a clear area through which the outer surface of said metal coating is exposed to view in an arbitrary design.

- 6. An ornamental lamp bulb'or the like, comprising a hollow glass body having a continuous coating of metallic silver upon a definite area of its inside walls presenting an inner surface for refiecting'light from a source within the bulb,

and an etched area of substantially similar contour upon its outer walls defining a clear'flgure through which the bright outer surface of said silver coating is exposed as an exterior reflecting surface.

7. An ornamental lamp bulb having its rounded end silvered upon the inside approximately up to the line of its maximum diameter presenting an inner surface for reflecting light from a source within the bulb, andan outer etched surface substantially coincident therewith and defining a clear figure through which the-bright outersurface of said silver is exposed as an exterior 're-,

flecting surface in contrast to the pearl-colored etched surface. 1

' CLARENCE BIRDSEYE. 

